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Former Grand Prix driver David Coulthard says that a fundamental change is needed in motorsport in order to boost the careers of women. On Wednesday, the 'W Series' was announced for 2019 which will be an all-female racing series.
The series is focused on finding a female talent worthy of progressing towards F1. The series will be free to enter however a group of judges, including Coulthard, will decide on the racers that will progress to compete full-time.
"If you want a fundamental change in the outcome then you need a fundamental change in the process," Coulthard told Autosport. "W Series is a fundamental change in what has clearly not worked as an opportunity to bring through female talent to the highest level you can. If we don't create a platform that may give an opportunity to accelerate that access, then nothing is going to change."
The launch of the series was met with some criticism as not everyone is pleased with the fact women have been segregated from men. IndyCar racer Pippa Mann took to Twitter to voice her disappointment with the decision: "What a sad day for motorsport. Those with funding to help female racers are choosing to segregate them as opposed to supporting them."
Coulthard added: "There will be those that are negative, but show me what anyone else is doing to try to create positive change and try to create positive opportunity?" he said.
"This is a change in the process and it will create opportunity. It is a more structured approach to their development, and an inspiration for girls growing up seeing someone winning and thinking" 'I want to do that!'"
Grand Prix of Belgium
G. Zhou
Rindtchamp
Posts: 304
'W' Series is stupid. it won't help women at all, there is no point in seperating the sexes, the key to this is grass roots level. We need to spend more time and effort getting girls into karting at a young age. Then they will naturally filter up the system and get into more series including ... [Read more]